Charlie e



(No Moldel.)

0. E. KENYON.

y PESSARY.

I No. 304,006. i Patented Aug. 26, 1884..

' WITNEESEE Inh/ENTER N. Pneus mmmhugmpm wmsem n. c,

"Unirse Sterns artnr @trice OHARLlFi E. KENYON, OF CHICAGO, ILL., ASSIGNOR. TO JASON T. BARTLETT AND EDVARD E. BUTMAN, BOTH OF BOSTO, MASS.

Pres/inv.4 f

SPECIPICATIOE forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,606, dated August 26, 1884.

(No modcl To all 'whom t may concern:

Bo it known that l, CIL-intra E. Kenyon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvcmcntin Pessaries, ot' which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making part of this specilication, in which- 1e Figure l is a perspective view ci a pessary constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion ol' the stem being broken away to showthc stiii'cning material within. Fi g. Zis a longitudinal vertical section through the i5 center of the same. Fig. 3 is asimilar section illustrating the method of introducing the st iffcning-core within the hollow stem ot' the pessary.

Pessaries have been constructed in which 2o the stem has been composed of soft vulcanized rubber, having embedded within it a coiledwirc spring to render it sufliciently stili" to support the uterus, and at the same time elastic to enable it to accommodate itself to the :5 movements oi' the wearer. The employment oi" a metallic spring within the stem is, however, exceedingly objectionable, for the reason that, should the rubber composing the stem crack or break, as sometimes occurs, the metal will be exposed and become corroded by the secretions, thus rendering the pessary unt for further use, as the corrosion of the metal would injuriously aifcct the parts with which it came into contact.

35 My invention has for its object to overcome this difficulty; and it consists in the combina tion, with a pcssary composed of vulcanized rubber and provided with a hollow stem, of a stiffeningcore composed of catgut or rawhide io introduced within the said stem after vulcani-l zation, and secured in place therein by a plug or other suitable means, by which construction suflicient elasticity is given to the stem to enable it to accommodate itself freely to the 45 various movements of the wearer, while at the same time it possesses sufficient stiffness to perfectly support the uterus, and in the event of the rubber stembecomin g cracked or broken the catgut or rawhide will not in any wayirri- 5o tate or injuriously affect the patient, these substances possessin characteristics which especially tit them for this purpose, as they are non-corrosive, lighter than metal, cheap, exceedingly durable, and srlicientlystiff and elastic to accomplish the desired results. 55

In the said drawings, A represents a soft vulcanized-rubber pcssary, having a cup, b, of ordinary form, provided `with. the usual perforations, c, and a siem, r6, made integral therewith. This stem d is during the vulcanizing 6o process made hollow, as seen in Figs. Zand 3, a longitudinal chamber, 5, being thus formed, which opens at its lower end into theusual transverse aperture, f, of the stem, through which pass the ordinary tubular elastic con 65 nections, G, leading to the waistband. (Not shown.) The portion S of the stein below the aperture f is provided with an perture or passage, g, extending centrally' and longitudinally through it in line with the chamber 5 7o above. After the pessary has been vulcanized, a stitfening-core, e, composed of catgut or rawhide Aof suitable diameter to snugly fit within the hollow portion of the stem d, is introduced within the aperture g, as seen in Fig. 7 5 8, and forced, by means of a suitable rod or wire, up into the chamber 5, as seen in Fig. 2, the length of the core being slightly less than that of the chamber, after which a small rubber plug, h, Fig. 2, is inserted beneath the Se end of the stift'ening-core and secured in place by cement, thus completely concealing the end of the core e and making a neat finish, the operation of introducing the stiffening-core within the chamber 5 being greatly facilitated 85 by providing the lower end of the stem d with the aperture or passage g. by thus providing the stein oi' the pessary with a stiffening-core composed of catgut or rawhide, as described, it is rendered sui'icientlystiff to properlysupgo port the uterus under all conditions, and will at the same time bend fr ely to any desired curve to `suit the movements or position of the wearer, and ou account of its resiliency will always retain its original form and not become g5 permanently bent out of shape,while, besides these advantages, it possesses the very important one of avoiding all possibility of the lesh in contact therewith being irritated or'injuriously affected in the event of the rubber bcroo coming cracked or broken away, so as to eX- pose the stitfening material within the stem,no substance other than eatgut or rawhide with whchIam acquainted combining all of the ad- 5 vantages above enumerated Whichrender them so particularly applicable for the purpose for which they are employed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is n Io 1. A vulcanized-rubber pessary having a hollow stem,v d, provided with a stiffening-core, e, composed of catgut or rawhide introduced after the vulcanization of the rubber, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set 15 forth.

the said stem after Vulcanization, and secured 2o in place therein by a cemented plug, h, substantially as and for the purpose described.

Vitness my hand this 27th day of November, A. D. 1883.

CHARLIE E. KENYON.

In presence of- A ABRAM C. VANDERBURGI, ARTHUR L. SLEEPER'. 

